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Four astronauts on the SpaceX Crew-2 mission splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida, Monday night after a six-month stay on the International Space Station.

The big picture: The return of NASA's Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet comes ahead of another SpaceX launch to the ISS of four more crew members that's scheduled for Wednesday.

SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts return from 6-month space station mission

SpaceX's Crew Dragon rocket launched in April.

ew-2 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Pilot Megan McArthur monitor data inside Crew Dragon during their return to Earth on Nov. 8, 2021. 

Crew-2 Commander Shane Kimbrough and pilot Megan McArthur monitor data inside Crew Dragon during their return to Earth on Monday. Photo: NASA

International Space Station

Space

<p>Four astronauts on the SpaceX Crew-2 mission splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida, Monday night after <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="a six-month stay" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/international-space-station-spacex-launch-13c8effb-59c0-4a1e-a374-bc45a13bbc12.html" data-vars-content-id="95fac5e5-72d3-4741-9078-99ad202816c6" data-vars-headline="SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts return from 6-month space station mission" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/international-space-station-spacex-launch-13c8effb-59c0-4a1e-a374-bc45a13bbc12.html" target="_self">a six-month stay</a> on the International Space Station.</p><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>The return of NASA&#x27;s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and the European Space Agency&#x27;s Thomas Pesquet comes ahead of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="another SpaceX launch" data-vars-click-url="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/11/08/spacex-crew-2-splashdown/" data-vars-content-id="95fac5e5-72d3-4741-9078-99ad202816c6" data-vars-headline="SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts return from 6-month space station mission" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/11/08/spacex-crew-2-splashdown/" target="_blank">another SpaceX launch</a> to the ISS of four more crew members that&#x27;s scheduled for Wednesday.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/Commercial_Crew/status/1457915270274723840"></a></blockquote><div style="display:none"></div></div><span data-ad-status="NO_AD_LENGTH" data-ad-type="midStoryAd"></span>

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SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts return from 6-month space station mission

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